Well we’ve been beavering away here in I’m a Scientist Towers. We’ve taken on a freelancer to develop the teacher packs. Becky Davies usually works at Techniquest as a science communicator and has a wealth of experience running workshops and activities with young people of varying ages.
Becky’s been doing a great job, coming up with lots of ideas and covering lots of ground. And there’s been a lot of back and forth as we try to hammer out what will work best, how things will fit together and best support the event. So I can now proudly unveil our draft plan for the teaching materials for I’m a Scientist.
In summary:-
Proposed lessons
1. Criteria for judging science – selection/sorting task
2. Stem Cell Debate
3. i. Speed-dating the scientists OR
ii. Simple intro
4. Live Chat
5. Interactive quizzes
6. Project analysis
Proposed info sheets
1. Generating electricity
2. Data handling
3. Drug development
We’d really appreciate any thoughts on the plan – suggestions, criticisms, praise. Especially praise;-). The more input we have, the more useful the resources will be for teachers. Once developed, all the resources will be freely available on the website for anyone to download and use – not just teachers who take part in I’m a Scientist.
Lots of great ideas haven’t made the cut, many because we don’t want to take the focus off the fact that the important thing about the event is the students getting to talk to scientists online – and vote! The activities all need to support that and help students and teachers make the most of the opportunity. However, we’ll have all our ‘also ran’ activities online in the teaching resources section, for teachers who are looking for more How Science Works type materials.
And apologies to people who’ve received two emails about this.
Since the ‘draw-a-scientist’ activity has been done a lot (and is increasingly becoming a popular NSEW activity in schools), perhaps something similar could be played as a game for groups of pupils: a paper-pen fold game i.e. one person draws the head of a scientist, the other the body, another the legs/feet and what they perceive to be tools of the trade. Might yield some interesting results e.g. does the scientist have a female head and male body? Or is the final scientist human at all? 🙂 Groups can discuss their perceptions afterwards.
re: the live chat
EU SchoolNet have been running live chats over the internet this year, giving pupils from across Europe the opportunity to chat both to each other, and also to leading professionals in science industries.
Students at my school got involved earlier in the year, and really enjoyed it. They use an MSN messenger-style interface, but I’m afraid that’s as far as my technological knowledge goes.
If you want more info on how they organise it, you can contact the organisers through http://www.xperimania.com, I think the coordinatorwas called Bernat Martinez.